Electronic data processing system for internet auctions

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an electronic data processing system for conducting auctions over a data network. A component of the system consists of an auction server, which is connected to the data network and which has an auction database for managing auction data records containing product description data and bid data. A number of bidder terminals are connected to the data network and comprise appropriate means for retrieving data from the auction database and comprise means for transmitting bid data to the auction server. The aim of the invention is to enable the effective and economical use of conventional internet auction platforms by product manufacturers and retailers in order to sell goods. To this end, the invention provides that the electronic data processing system is supplemented by a retailer server, which is connected to the data network, and by an intermediary server that is also connected to the data network. The intermediary server has a program controller with which auction data records are automatically put into the auction database according to production description data that are extracted by the intermediary server from corresponding product portfolio data records of the retailer server. The intermediary server uses its program controller to automatically create order data records for the auction data records.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Application No.10310911.0 filed Mar. 13, 2003. Applicant also claims priority under 35U.S.C. §365 of PCT/EP2004/001038 filed Feb. 5, 2004. The internationalapplication under PCT article 21(2) was not published in English.

The invention relates to an EDP system for automatically conducting

-   -   auctions by way of a data network, having        -   a) an auction server connected with the data network, which            has an auction database for managing auction data records            comprising product description data and bid data, and which            furthermore has an auction program controller by means of            which the bid data are evaluated and auction winners are            determined from them, and having        -   b) a plurality of bidder terminals also connected with the            data network, which have means for retrieving data from the            auction database of the auction server, and means for            transmitting bid data to the auction server.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for computer-supportedimplementation of an auction by way of a data network, using such an EDPsystem, as well as to a computer program for implementing this method.

For example, an EDP system for conducting an online auction on theInternet is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,896. The method described inthis reference corresponds to the pattern that is usual for the onlineauctions (e.g. e-bay, Converge, Amazon) that are generally known today:

An auction server connected with the Internet accesses an auctiondatabase in which product data, bid data, and customer data of theregistered users of the auction platform are stored. By means of asuitable program controller of the auction server, the bid data that arereceived by way of the Internet are automatically evaluated, whereby anauction winner is automatically determined for every auction, inaccordance with the highest bid that is offered. The auction winner aswell as the bidder of the auctioned product, in each instance, are inturn automatically informed of the result of the auction, for example byemail.

While originally such online auctions were primarily used by privateindividuals for selling used goods, in most instances, the morewell-known Internet auction platforms now enjoy increasing popularityamong retailers and product manufacturers, as well, who use Internetauction platforms for marketing many different products. Using onlineauctions, businesses have the opportunity of offering their products toa large group of private and also commercial potential customers.

With regard to use by commercial vendors, the online auctions known atpresent have a number of disadvantages. For product manufacturers whowish to sell goods of the same kind in large numbers, it is adisadvantage that an individual auction must be set up for each productunit, in the case of an Internet auction platform, and that after theauction has been completed, in each instance, the payment handling andthe shipping has to be carried out individually for every auctionwinner. Because of the great amount of effort involved, the relatedcosts are too high for most product manufacturers. The modalitiesdescribed, according to which handling of the auctions takes place inthe case of the Internet auction platforms known at this time, thereforehave the result that utilization of these platforms is often notattractive for commercial vendors, for economic reasons.

The present invention is based on the task of making Internet auctionsusable also for commercial vendors, whereby it is supposed to bepossible for such vendors to sell a large number of products within ashort period of time, at the lowest possible cost.

This task is accomplished by the invention, proceeding from an EDPsystem of the type stated initially, in that an intermediary server isconnected with the data network, whereby the intermediary server has aprogram controller by means of which

-   -   product description data are extracted from product portfolio        data records received from a retailer server by way of the data        network,    -   auction data records are put into the auction database of the        auction server, in accordance with the extracted product        description data, by way of the data network, and    -   order data records, which comprise the customer data assigned to        the auction winners, are generated for the auction data records.

According to the invention, a product manufacturer or retailer has thepossibility of transmitting product portfolio data records to theintermediary server by means of the retailer server. The productportfolio data records contain a listing of the products that theproduct manufacturer or retailer wishes to sell by way of onlineauctions. Furthermore, product description data are contained in theproduct portfolio data records, for every product, by means of which thepotential customers are supposed to receive sufficient information aboutthe product in question.

The intermediary server has a program controller by means of which theproduct description data are extracted from the product portfolio datafor each individual product. The intermediary server then makes contactwith the auction server directly, by way of the data network, and setsup auctions in the auction database of the auction server, for eachindividual product, in accordance with the product description dataextracted. For this purpose, the intermediary server preferably utilizesthe data interface that is made available by the auction server. Thisdata interface usually consists of a Web interface that can be usedinteractively by any registered users of the auction server, by way ofthe Internet.

As soon as the individual auction data records have been put into theauction database of the auction server by the intermediary server, theauction server automatically conducts the online auctions, whereby biddata, in particular, are accepted from bidder terminals and stored.Finally, the auction server determines an auction winner for eachindividual auction from the bid data. After completion of the auction,the intermediary server generates order data records in which thecustomer data assigned to the auction winners, in each instance, arestored.

By means of the system according to the invention, the productmanufacturer or retailer is completely uncoupled from the actualhandling of the auctions for the individual products. As the vendor, theproduct manufacturer or retailer merely has to present a list of theproducts to be sold, in the form of product portfolio records. Aftercompletion of the individual auctions, the vendor has the order datasets generated by the intermediary server available, without the vendorhimself having to determine the customer data of each individual auctionwinner.

The intermediary server, equipped with a suitable program controller,therefore makes it possible for the product manufacturer or retailer tosell a large number of products by way of online auctions, at the sametime, with the smallest possible effort. It is advantageous if thevendor, as the product manufacturer or retailer, is not involved in theset-up and handling of the individual auctions at all, according to theinvention.

A practical further development of the EDP system according to theinvention consists in the fact that the intermediary server has acustomer database for managing the customer data, whereby the customerdata of the auction winners, in each instance, can be input into thecustomer database by means of an input interface of the intermediaryserver from the bidder terminals, by way of the data network. As aresult, recording and managing the customer data required by the productmanufacturer or retailer, in each instance, becomes particularlyeffective. Since the intermediary server is connected to the datanetwork (Internet), according to the invention, to which the bidderterminals are also connected, the auction winners, in each instance, caneasily access the input interface of the intermediary server. In thisconnection, it is practical if the input interface is configured in sucha manner, for example in the form of a suitable input screen, that theauction winners are asked for all of the data required by the productmanufacturer or retailer. The data input by the auction winners, in eachinstance, are then stored and managed by means of the customer databaseof the intermediary server. The stored data can then be utilized forautomatically generating the order data sets for the individual auctiondata sets, by means of the program controller.

Usually, after an individual auction has been completed, the vendor ofthe goods in question as well as the auction winner, in each instance,are informed by the auction server, by means of automatically generatedemail messages. Since, according to the invention, the intermediaryserver appears as the vendor, from the point of view of the auctionserver, the intermediary server receives such a message from the auctionserver. It is practical if the program controller of the intermediaryserver automatically extracts the email address of the auction winner inquestion from the email message. Afterwards, the intermediary server, inturn, generates an email message directed at the auction winner, withwhich the auction winner is asked to input his customer data, by way ofthe Internet, using the input interface of the intermediary server, asdescribed above. Accordingly, the acquisition of the customer data canadvantageously proceed completely automatically.

It is practical if the automatic generation of the order data recordsand the transmission of same to the retailer server take place as afunction of the registration of payment procedures that correspond tothe bids of the auction winners, in each instance. In order to relievethe product manufacturer or retailer of the burden of handling theindividual auction, to the greatest possible extent, it is advantageousif the payments received from the auction winners, in each instance, arealso monitored by the program controller of the intermediary server. Theorder data records intended for the product manufacturer or retailer areaccordingly generated only after the incoming payment has beenregistered by the intermediary server.

A particularly practical further development of the EDP system accordingto the invention consists in the fact that minimum bid data assigned tothe product description data are calculated from the product portfoliodata records by means of the program controller of the intermediaryserver, which minimum bid data are attached to the auction data records,in each instance. Most Internet auction platforms permit a minimum bidto be set by the vendor for every product that is offered. This makes itpossible to ensure that a price corresponding to the minimum bid isachieved for the product being offered, in any case, under theassumption that the auction server actually receives a bid in thedesired amount. The system according to the invention makes it possiblefor the product manufacturer or retailer to merely set a total amountthat is to be achieved with the sale of the goods listed in thecorresponding product portfolio data record, as a whole. The programcontroller of the intermediary server then automatically calculatesminimum bid data from this information, for the individual goods to beoffered for sale, and these minimum bid data are taken intoconsideration when setting up the auction data records on the auctionserver. The calculation of the minimum bid data can take place accordingto a key that can be predetermined, so that particular purchasingincentives are created for certain goods, for example.

The EDP system according to the invention as described above is suitablefor a method for computer-supported implementation of an auction by wayof a data network, having the method steps

-   -   a) generating auction data records comprising product        description data, in an auction database of an auction server        connected with the data network,    -   b) transmitting data from the auction database to a plurality of        bidder terminals connected with the data network,    -   c) registering and storing bids that are received from the        bidder terminals, by way of the data network, in the auction        database,    -   d) automatically evaluating bid data and determining auction        winners for each auction data record.

Proceeding from such a method, the task on which the invention is based,as described above, is accomplished in that in order to generate theauction data records in method step a), a product portfolio data recordis transmitted by a retailer server connected with the data network, toan intermediary server also connected with the data network, whereby theintermediary server automatically

-   -   i) extracts product description data from the product portfolio        data record,    -   ii) puts the auction data records into the auction database of        the auction server, by way of the data network, in accordance        with the extracted product description data,    -   iii) after a determination of the auction winners in method step        d), generates order data records with the customer data assigned        to the auction winners, and transmits them to the retailer        server, by way of the data network.

The method steps i)-iii) automatically performed by the intermediaryserver, according to the invention, are implemented by means of asuitable program controller of the intermediary server. Such a programcontroller can be made available for implementation on a computerprovided as the intermediary server, in the form of a computer programstored on a suitable data carrier (magnetic tape, diskette, CD/DVD-ROM).

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will be explained below, usingthe drawing:

The drawing schematically shows an EDP system according to the inventionin the form of a block schematic. An integral part of the system is anauction server 2 connected with a data network 1 (Internet), which hasan auction database 3, which serves for managing auction data recordscomprising product description data and bid data. Furthermore, a numberof bidder terminals 4, 5, 6 are connected with the data network 1. Theseare conventional personal computers that have access to the Internet byway of a modem, for example. In this connection, suitable softwareprograms (so-called “browsers”) are installed on the bidder terminals 4,5 and 6, which can be utilized to access data from the auction database3 of the auction server 2, by way of the data network 1. The browserprograms can, at the same time, be used for transmitting bid data fromthe bidder terminals 4, 5, 6 to the auction server 2. Usual Internettechnology, as it is used in the known Internet auction platforms, canbe used for interactive communication between the bidder terminals 4, 5and 6 and the auction server 2. As shown in the drawing, a retailerserver 7 is furthermore connected with the data network 1. The retailerserver 7 is a suitable personal computer of a product manufacturer orretailer. According to the invention, an intermediary server 8 isfurthermore provided in the EDP system shown, which also has aconnection to the data network 1.

The intermediary server 8 has a program controller by means of which thecommunication between intermediary server 8, retailer server 7, bidderterminal 6, and auction server 2 is controlled, as symbolized in thedrawing by arrows.

According to the invention, the method for computer-supportedimplementation of an auction by way of the data network 1 proceeds asfollows:

First, a product portfolio data record 9 is transmitted to theintermediary server by the retailer server 7, by way of the data network1. The intermediary server 8 extracts product description data forvarious goods that the product manufacturer or retailer to whom theretailer server 7 is assigned wishes to sell by way of Internet auctionsfrom the product portfolio data record; this is not shown in detail inthe drawing. The product description data are then transmitted to theauction server 2 as auction data records 10, 11, 12 and 13, by theintermediary server 8, by way of the data network 1, and stored there inthe auction database 3. The auction data records 10, 11, 12 and 13 canthen be accessed by way of the data network 1, in the manner known forthe known Internet auction platforms. In this connection, the data aretransmitted from the auction database 3 to the corresponding bidderterminals 4, 5 and 6 upon request, by means of suitable Internettechnology. Bids relating to the individual auction data records 10, 11,12 and 13 are given by the users of the bidder terminals 4, 5 and 6,received in the form of bid data on the auction server 2 by way of thedata network 1, and stored in the auction database 3. The bid data 3 areautomatically evaluated by means of the program controller of theauction server 2, in usual manner, whereby an auction winner isdetermined for each auction data record 10, 11, 12 and 13, in eachinstance. After completion of an auction, the auction server 2automatically generates an email message 14, which is transmitted to theintermediary server 8 by way of the data network 1. The intermediaryserver 8 appears as the vendor of the goods in question, from the pointof view of the auction server 2, and is informed, in the email message14, as to who won the auction in question and what highest bid wassuccessful. By means of the program controller of the intermediaryserver 8, the email address of the auction winner is extracted from theemail message 14, among other things, and stored in a customer databaseof the intermediary server 8. The email address of the auction winner isfurthermore used to generate an email message 15, again automatically,which is transmitted to the bidder terminal 6 assigned to the auctionwinner in question, by way of the data network 1. In the email message15, the auction winner is requested to enter his data (name, deliveryaddress, billing address, phone number, fax number, etc.), by way of aninput interface of the intermediary server 8 intended for this purpose.After the auction winners are determined, and after the related customerdata 16 have been recorded, the intermediary server 8 generates an orderdata record 17 that is transmitted to the retailer server 7 by way ofthe data network 1. The order data record 17 contains the data stored inthe customer database of the intermediary server 8, with regard to theindividual auction winners who have won the bidding for the goods listedin the original product portfolio data record 9. The productmanufacturer or retailer can derive the corresponding names, deliveryaddresses, and billing addresses of the customers from the order datarecord 17, and have the goods shipped to the customer in question.

The invention claimed is:
 1. EDP system for automatically conductingauctions by way of a data network (1), comprising a) an auction server(2) connected with the data network (1), which has an auction database(3) for managing auction data records comprising product descriptiondata and bid data, and which furthermore has an auction programcontroller by means of which the bid data are evaluated and auctionwinners are determined from them, b) a plurality of bidder terminals (4,5, 6) also connected with the data network (1), which have means forretrieving data from the auction database (3) of the auction server (2),and means for transmitting bid data to the auction server (2), c) aretailer server (7) connected with the data network (1), d) anintermediary server (8) also connected with the data network (1),whereby the intermediary server (8) has a program controller by means ofwhich product description data are extracted from product portfolio datarecords (9) received from the retailer server (7) by way of the datanetwork (1), auction data records (10, 11, 12, 13) are put into theauction database (3) of the auction server (2), in accordance with theextracted product description data, by way of the data network (1), andorder data records (17), which comprise the customer data assigned tothe auction winners, are generated for the auction data records (10, 11,12, 13).
 2. EDP system according to claim 1, wherein the intermediaryserver (8) has a customer database for managing the customer data,whereby the customer data of the auction winners, in each instance, canbe input into the customer database by means of an input interface ofthe intermediary server (8) from the bidder terminals (4, 5, 6), by wayof the data network (1).
 3. EDP system according to claim 1, wherein thegeneration of the order data records (17) and the transmission of sameto the retailer server (7) take place as a function of the registrationof payment procedures that correspond to the bids of the auctionwinners, in each instance.
 4. EDP system according to claim 1, whereinminimum bid data assigned to the product description data are calculatedfrom the product portfolio data records (9) by means of the programcontroller of the intermediary server (8), which minimum bid data areattached to the auction data records (10, 11, 12, 13), in each instance.5. Method for computer-supported implementation of an auction by way ofa data network (1), having the method steps: a) generating auction datarecords (10, 11, 12, 13) comprising product description data, in anauction database (3) of an auction server (2) connected with the datanetwork (1), b) transmitting data from the auction database (3) to aplurality of bidder terminals (4, 5, 6) connected with the data network(1), c) registering and storing bids that are received from the bidderterminals (4, 5, 6), by way of the data network (1), in the auctiondatabase (3), d) automatically evaluating bid data and determiningauction winners for each auction data record (10, 11, 12, 13), whereinin order to generate the auction data records 10, 11, 12, 13) in methodstep a), a product portfolio data record (9) is transmitted by aretailer server (7) connected with the data network (1), to anintermediary server (8) also connected with the data network (1),whereby the intermediary server (8) automatically i) extracts productdescription data from the product portfolio data record (9), ii) putsthe auction data records (10, 11, 12, 13) into the auction database (3)of the auction server (2), by way of the data network (1), in accordancewith the extracted product description data, and iii) after adetermination of the auction winners in method step d), generates orderdata records (17) with the customer data (16) assigned to the auctionwinners, and transmits them to the retailer server (7), by way of thedata network (1).
 6. Method according to claim 5, wherein afterdetermination of the auction winners in method step d), the auctionserver (2) automatically generates and transmits email messages to thebidder terminals (4, 5, 6) of the auction winners in question, and tothe intermediary server (8), by way of the data network (1), whereby theintermediary server (8) extracts the email addresses of the auctionwinners from the email messages (14) directed to it, and stores them ina customer database.
 7. Method according to claim 5, wherein beforegeneration of the order data records (17), the customer data (16) areinput into the customer database of the intermediary server (8) by theauction winners, in each instance, by means of an input interface madeavailable by means of the intermediary server (8), by way of the datanetwork (1).
 8. Method according to claim 6, wherein the auction winnersare automatically requested to input their customer data (16) by way ofthe input interface of the intermediary server (8), by the intermediaryserver (8), by way of an email message (15).
 9. Method according toclaim 5, wherein the transmission of the order data records (17) to theretailer server (7) takes place as a function of the registration ofpayment procedures that correspond to the bids of the auction winners,in each instance.
 10. Method according to claim 5, wherein minimum biddata assigned to the product description data are calculated from theproduct portfolio data records (9) by means of the program controller ofthe intermediary server (8), which minimum bid data are attached to theauction data records (10, 11, 12, 13), in each instance.
 11. Computerprogram for automatically implementing auctions by way of a data network(1), wherein a method according to claim 5 is implemented on a computerbeing used as an intermediary server (8) and connected with the datanetwork (1).